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ESC Up in Smoke!

My nephew bought a Slash 4x4 last Saturday. Ran it daily since last Saturday bashing, practicing at the track. He ran a few packs through it this afternoon with no problems. This evening, he charged up the 7 cell stock battery. plugged it in, turned on the ESC and by the time he got the body pins on smoke was billowing out. He pulled the pins and unplugged the battery. Smoke was shooting out the hole where the servo wires exit. Very disappointed to say the least. Does this happen often? Everything was connected correctly. The car was cool and had not been run for a few hours.

He's hoping to get warrantied before the 24th. We have a practice/meet at our local track.

Unfortunately it is common. The VXL esc is hot or miss. Some do great for years, others are craps from the start. That is why lots of people upgrade to the 2400 system by Castle. It is still under warranty. Give Traxxas a call. They will take care of you

Do you suppose he'll need to send the motor in along with the ESC.
I'm asking because we're getting this ready for hopefully an exchange at LHS or sending it directly back to Traxxas and hopefully getting it back by the 24th first track day of the season.

Same thing happened to me. I figured I would just spend the 55.00 so I filled out the paper work to have it repaired (I was out of the 30 day window) and sent it in. Last Saturday I received an email stating my package was ready to ship and the note said ECS replaced NO CHARGE. I did not expect that at all. I received my ESC today total 2 weeks a brand new in the package 3s esc. I have had other dealings with them also and will always say Traxxas support is hands down top notch!!!!

Unfortunately it is common. The VXL esc is hot or miss. Some do great for years, others are craps from the start. That is why lots of people upgrade to the 2400 system by Castle. It is still under warranty. Give Traxxas a call. They will take care of you

Sob's right. It just happened to me a couple days ago and i'm thinking about a 2400 system just because of that.

Originally Posted by 86pagt

Same thing happened to me. I figured I would just spend the 55.00 so I filled out the paper work to have it repaired (I was out of the 30 day window) and sent it in. Last Saturday I received an email stating my package was ready to ship and the note said ECS replaced NO CHARGE. I did not expect that at all. I received my ESC today total 2 weeks a brand new in the package 3s esc. I have had other dealings with them also and will always say Traxxas support is hands down top notch!!!!

They helped me out to but what about next time? Oh and there will be a next time. I'd much prefer a higher quality esc than to test out Traxxas's great customer service.

Get an RMA from traxxas and ship it out today, there is a chance they will replace it in time.
OR,
Even though Traxxas does not conduct warranties though local shops,
Your Local shop has a chance to shine in allowing you to purchase a new ESC from them, to then give you a refund when you get the replacement from Traxxas.

A Novak ESC "let the magic smoke out" for me a few days ago ... smells nice doesn't it?
I'm about to try to run a Novak sensored motor on the Traxxas VXL

Get an RMA from traxxas and ship it out today, there is a chance they will replace it in time.
OR,
Even though Traxxas does not conduct warranties though local shops,
Your Local shop has a chance to shine in allowing you to purchase a new ESC from them, to then give you a refund when you get the replacement from Traxxas.

A Novak ESC "let the magic smoke out" for me a few days ago ... smells nice doesn't it?
I'm about to try to run a Novak sensored motor on the Traxxas VXL

Sounds like a plan. LHS is great, and may help him out. That is an awful smell, the magic smoke. I still smell it. Got the oily residue on my hands. Scrubbed like crazy to get the stench off.

...Your Local shop has a chance to shine in allowing you to purchase a new ESC from them, to then give you a refund when you get the replacement from Traxxas...

That is exactly what we did. There is a great store, well stocked, with outstanding customer service 50 miles from home. Gave us an excuse to ride motorcycles for the afternoon. He said he'll refund when replacement comes in. Very helpful!